Chocolate Friday is a bi-weekly research and idea sharing event. Each week features presentations from NEMAC staff, University faculty, student researchers, and visiting professionals. The event is open to anyone who is interested in NEMAC and the topics.
And yes, chocolate is served!
The sixth Chocolate Friday is December 7 and features four presentations on The Biosphere:
No more magic bullets? Try the magic shotgun! ... the Bent Creek Institute's unique approach to developing next-generation treatments for human disease
Jeffrey D. Schmitt, PhD, Bent Creek Institute
Combination therapy refers to the simultaneous use of two or more methods to treat a given disease. The purview of combinatorial therapy now captures allopathic medicines and treatments as well as alternative medicines and treatments. Combinatorial therapy has been successful in treating numerous diseases such as cancer, tuberculosis, leprosy, malaria, HIV/AIDS and diabetes (type II). The scientific literature is now replete with examples of the advantages provided by combinatorial therapies compared to mono-therapy; these advantages include: lower failure rates; lower case-fatality ratios; slower development of resistance in the case of cancer and infectious disease; and reduced acute toxicity, because the synergistic action of combined medicines frequently allows lower dosing regimens. The Bent Creek Institute is embarking on exciting initiatives to develop new ways to explore and create novel combination therapies to treat human disease.
The NC Arboretum: Tapping Regional Uniqueness and Opportunity
George Briggs, Executive Director, The NC Arboretum
Located in the Southern Appalachian mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum emerges as a new institution of the University of North Carolina system in a region possessing a rich cultural heritage, great botanical diversity and noted landscape beauty. In addition to these natural assets, our mountain region and the State as a whole are experiencing substantial shifts in economic patterns, environmental trends and land use. This presentation will describe the current status of development, programs and strategies in aligning the Arboretum's priorities with the challenges and opportunities confronting North Carolina.
Monitoring invasive exotic plant species in the National Forests of the Southern Appalachians
Andy Brown, President of Equinox Environmental
Invasive species have been cited by the Chief of the US Forest Service as being one of the top four threats to the health and sustainability of America’s national forests. Yet we know relatively little of the science behind the risk of alien plant invasions and the associated impacts on native species in forest ecosystems. Efficient invasion management requires that we learn more about these issues. The primary purpose of this study is to assess the circumstances and conditions of alien plant invasions in southern Appalachian National Forests so they might be predicted and managed more effectively.
Dissection of a Molecular Communication Pathway in Cancer Cells
Thomas E. Meigs Assistant Professor of Biology UNC Asheville
A typical human cell contains thousands of different proteins, and a small but growing number of these proteins have been suggested to play important roles in cancer progression. G{alpha}12 is an intracellular protein that has been demonstrated to drive cells toward cancerous proliferation (uncontrolled cell division) and metastasis (invasion of cancer cells into other areas of the body). The molecular mechanism of G{alpha}12 action in cells is not well understood; however, in the past several years approximately twenty different proteins have been identified as directly interacting with G{alpha}12. My laboratory has developed an experimental system for identifying the specific regions of G{alpha}12 critical for interaction with each of these proteins; our ongoing studies should reveal protein-protein interactions that are important for cancerous progression in human cells. Our hope is that the structural information garnered from these studies will aid the design and development of novel anti-tumor drugs.
WHERE: The Chamber of Commerce
36 Montford Ave , Asheville 28801
WHEN: 3:00-5:00 on Fridays
(check the schedule for upcoming days)
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contact Susan Weatherford (250-3890)
Here's a flyer you can download and hang in your office.
